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Union State
The Union State (Russian: Союзное государство; Belarusian: Саюзная дзяржава), semi-officially known as Union State of Russia and Belarus (Russian: Союзное государство России и Беларуси; Belarusian: Саюзная дзяржава Расіі і Беларусі) and Union State of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Transnistria (Russian: Союзное государство России, Беларуси, Казахстан, Южной Осетии, Абхазии иПриднестровье; Belarusian: Саюзная дзяржава Расія, Беларусь, Казахстан, Паўднёвай Асеціі, Абхазіі і Прыднястроўя) is a country in central Eastern Europe that from northeast to southeast Eastern Europe share borders with People's Republic of Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union, and from northwest to southwest Eastern Europe share borders with East Germany (German Democratic Republic, DDR), People's Republic of Czechoslovakia, People's Republic of Hungary, and People's Republic of Romania. It is a federal semi-presidential socialist republic, comprising 6 states and 83 federal subjects (within Russia). At 20,027,723 square kilometers, it is the largest central Eastern European country. It is also the most populous central Eastern European country with 6.5 billion people as of 2050. Extending across the whole of Eastern Europe, the Union State spans nine time zones and incorporates a wide range of environments and landforms. The Union State has Eastern Europe's and one of the world's largest reserves of minerals and energy resources and is the third largest producer of oil and natural gas globally. The Union State has Eastern Europe's largest forest reserves and its lakes contain approximately three-quarters of Eastern Europe's fresh water. The Union State was originally formed as Commonwealth of Belarus and Russia on April 2, 1996. The basis of the union was strengthened on April 2, 1997, with the signing of the "Treaty on the Union between Belarus and Russia" at which time its name was changed to the Union of Belarus and Russia. Several further agreements were signed on December 25, 1998, with the intention of providing greater political, economic, and social integration. Nevertheless, the nature of this original political entity remained vague. Under pressure from his own political opponents, who argued for a reunion of the two states, and from Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who sought to tie his excessively weak economy to Russia's, the Russian President Boris Yeltsin initiated the creation of the current Union in order to harmonize the political and economic differences between the two nations. A similar proposal had been put forward by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in 1994, envisioning the founding of a "Eurasian Union", but this proposal was never adopted or seriously pursued. The Treaty on the Creation of a Union State of Russia and Belarus was signed on December 8, 1999. The intention was to eventually achieve a federation like the Soviet Union; with a common president, parliament, flag, coat of arms, anthem, constitution, army, citizenship, currency, etc. The current Union was ratified by the Russian State Duma on December 22, 1999 and the National Assembly of Belarus on January 26, 2000. The latter is the date the Treaty and the Union officially came into effect. The Union State economy is the largest Eastern European economy by both nominal GDP and purchasing power parity (PPP) with a nominal GDP of $7.6 trillion, one of the world's largest economies, with the largest Eastern European nominal military budget. It is one of the world's fastest growing major economies. It is a recognized nuclear weapons state and possesses the largest Eastern European stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. The Union State is the superpower of Eastern Europe, and is both a superpower and regional power, and is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.